


Cave-ins and Scar Stories

by MidnightCreator



Series: Paladin Pack [10]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Rat-Things, Cave-In, Gen, Minor Injuries, Scars, Story time with Kellan, and just a general good time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 15:25:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10834032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightCreator/pseuds/MidnightCreator
Summary: Lance and Kellan go exploring and get stuck in a cave. While looking for a alternate way out, Kellan tells Lance one of his old War Stories.





	Cave-ins and Scar Stories

Everything felt sore.

 

Lance groaned and curled further into himself, as if doing so would quell the deep ache that was pulsing through his body.

 

_“-ce.”_

Was someone talking? Lance furrowed his brow in confusion and he tried to clear the fogginess from his head.

 

_“-ance!”_

That was…Kellan. That was Kellan’s voice. Why was Kell yelling?

 

“Lance!”

 

The Blue Paladin jerked as the world suddenly snapped back into focus so fast Lance was sure it gave him whiplash.

 

“Lance, are you with me?”

 

“Ugggghhhh, what hit me?”

 

Kell chuckled, and Lance felt the ground under his cheek give a series of small jerks along with the sound. It was then he realized that he was not, in fact, on the ground but was instead pretty much curled up on top of Kellan. He blinked a few times before a wall of stone leaked through the blurriness in his eyes, “Seriously….what hit me?”

 

“A cave-in,” Kellan shifted under Lance slightly so that he wasn’t completely folded over him. “I have no idea what caused it but thankfully we’re not trapped.”

 

“Um, I’m feeling kind of trapped dude.”

 

“I didn’t want to move until you woke up.”

 

Lance frowned and tilted his head up. Kellan blinked back down at him, features slightly pinched in pain. His right arm was circled around Lance’s shoulders while the left held his shield above them. And on top of the shield was the reason for the strained expression on Kell’s face.

 

The cave-in had caused an almost semi-circle of rocks to collapse on top of them and the only thing holding off the mass of earth and rubble was the living pillar that was Kellan and his shield. It made Lance gape slightly.

 

“As flattering as the admiration of my strength is,” Kell gritted out, giving Lance a small nudge. “My arm hurts. A lot.”

 

“Oh!” Lance scrabbled up and winced when his muscle reminded him that he had just been in an avalanche.

 

“Careful,” Kellan warned.

 

Lance nodded and carefully shuffled backwards, moving back until he was pressed against the opposite wall of the cave.

 

Kellan shifted and grunted until he managed to get his legs under him and into a more crouched position. Lance tensed as the pile of rocks shifted ominously above Kell. He shut his eyes and mentally tried to send encouragement to Kell. He felt a small spark of gratitude and glance up to see Kell’s small smile before his face morphed back into concentration.

 

The wolf stayed frozen in his crouched position for several moments, eyes narrowing slightly and ears flattening. And then, in a sudden, jerking motion, Kell launched himself forward, wrenching his shield free and rolling across the ground in one movement. The rubble gave a shudder before crashing down and sending up a cloud of dust.

 

Lance released the breath he hadn’t even noticed he had been holding and shuffled over to Kell, “You alright.”

 

Kellan dropped his shield and rolled onto his back, “Never better.”

 

He tried to offer a smile, but Lance could still see the tension in his jaw and the slight crease between his eyebrows, “You sure?”

 

Kell hummed as he sat up stiffly, rubbing at his right shoulder, “Just strained my bad shoulder a bit. It happens sometimes, no big deal.”

 

“You have a bad shoulder?”

 

“Um…yes.”

 

“Since when?”

 

“Since….ten years ago I think? Give or take.” Kellan had started to unbutton his shirt and pull off the side over his left shoulder, “It’s just a bit of muscle weakness….kind of. If I push it to far then phantom pains start to flare up and it make it pretty hard for me to use it. I might as well manage it now before it gets too bad.”

 

Logically, Lance knew that Kellan would have some scars. The guy had lived through a war on his home planet and had been held prisoner by the Galra Empire for almost two years. It was understandable that he would have gotten some pretty nasty injuries along the way.

 

But Lance hadn’t ever really thought that Kell had any old injuries that were more susceptible to strain. Sure, the Patrian seemed to favor his left hand in battle situation and his right for more everyday tasks but Lance had thought that it was a personal preference.

 

So he really wasn’t sure what he was expected when Kell’s bare fur was reviled.

 

The fur along Kell’s torso and arms was a bit thicker and longer then the fur on his face and hands. Small scars decorated Kellan’s right arm, most were partly covered by his fur and looked to be from very minor things. But his side and chest were littered much angrier looking scars, slightly puckered pink skin standing out starkly against his sandy fur.

 

The one on his shoulder, however, won for being the most gruesome looking. It spread over almost the entirety of his shoulder and a little bit overlapping on his chest. Most of the fur was gone, with only a few sparse and ragged patches on the places that looked the least damaged. The scar itself was a mix of smoothed over scar tissue and places where the skin looked shriveled and unhealthy. There were spots where Lance could clearly see bite marks, the flesh dipping into the shape of large teeth penetrating, ripping, tearing. The metal image of what could have done that to Kell made Lance shudder.

 

Kellan must have sensed Lance’s shock, because his head jerked up from where he had been examining his shoulder, “It’s fine Lance. I barely remember what happened.”

 

If anything, the statement shocked Lance even more, “How is your arm still intact?”

 

“Magic,” As if to prove his point, Kell’s left hand started to glow as he pressed it over his scar. “Managed to heal myself enough to save my arm before I passed out, woke up in the Healers Den the next day with my mother and Nekko scolding me on worrying them so much.”

 

Lance snorted, “You, getting scolded by your _younger_ brother?”

 

“And my mother,” Kellan chuckled, than winced. “This is so much easier with a second creature.”

 

“Isn’t you magic supposed to, you know, soothe pain or something.”

 

“On other creatures, yes,” Kellan winced again. “But it’s different when I do it on myself. The effect isn’t quite the same.”

 

“Oh! Like trying to soothe yourself when you have a stomach ache?”

 

“Yeah, that’s one way to look at it.”

 

Lance nodded and watched as Kellan worked on his shoulder, trying to soothe the muscle. But he didn’t appear to be very successful, even when he pulled his shirt back on the wolf’s face was still slightly pinched.

 

“We can just hang out if you need to,” Lance tried to keep his tone casual, knowing if Kellan knew he was offering for the Patrian’s sake he would be less likely to sit down and rest his shoulder.

 

It didn’t work because Kell stood up, holding his right arm close to his body and grabbing his shield with the other, “I’ll be fine Lance. Now how about we find an alternate exit, hmm? I think I can smell fresh air over that way.”

 

Lance sighed but stood up, resolving to keep an eye on Kell, “Do you want to, I donno, sling you arm or something?”

 

“Sling it with what?”

 

Lance grinned and removed his jacket, “This can work! Glad I didn’t wear my armor. Now hold still for a minute.”

 

Lance took his bayard from the pocket of his jacket and hooked it into the side belt loop on his jeans. Then he folded his jacket and tied the sleeves around Kell’s neck, tucking the right arm into the pouch that the torso of the jacket made. He stepped back once he was done and admired his work, “Not to shabby if I do say so myself.”

 

Kell chuckled, “Thank you Lance, that does help quite a lot.”

 

Lance beamed, “Just looking after the pack.”

 

Kell smiled and tilted his head towards a cave tunnel that hadn’t been blocked, “Shall we?”

 

“Lead on Alpha wolf.”

 

Kellan chuckled at that and started to walk down the tunnel. Lance followed close behind, keeping an eye on Kellan in case the wolf started to lag.

 

They walked in silence for a ways, the only sound being the crunch of their footfalls on the stony ground. Lance felt himself getting a little twitchy from the silence after what he guessed to be a fifteen minute mark. A conversation was in order in his option, “Where’d you get that anyway?”

 

“Hmmm?” Kellan’s ear twitched around.

 

“You’re scar….or is it-”

 

Kellan shook his head, “It’s okay Lance, you don’t have to worry every time you want to know something about my past.”

 

“I know,” Lance huffed and crossed his arms. “I’m just trying to be considerate.”

 

Kellan made a low humming sound, “I am aware and you do a quite spectacular job of that.”

 

Lance couldn’t stop his grin, “Well, I am pretty awesome.”

 

“That you are,” Kellan agrees. “Now, do you want that story?”

 

Lance nodded.

 

“Well, I afraid there isn’t much to it. See, it was during a particularly grueling battle against Balor’s followers. My team, me and a few others had been sent out to find refuges and bring them back to Haven. We didn’t find potential pack mates but we did find some of Balor’s forces and a fight broke out. We were holding our own fairly well but at some point we got split up. One of the Sluagh managed to sneak up on me and get its teeth into my shoulder, left a few good claw marks on my back too,” Kellan grimaced slightly. “I probably would have lost my arm if I had passed out any sooner. I managed to killed the Sluagh and heal myself enough to survive. When I woke up, I was back in Haven with Nekko and my Mother barking about how I needed to be more careful.” He snorted at the memory and Lance could feel the amusement radiating off of the healer.

 

“That is a pretty epic story,” Lance frowned a bit. “But…what’s a Sluagh?”

 

“No one’s told you?”

 

Lance shook his head.

 

“Ah, well, a Sluagh is basically a spirit that has forced themselves back into their body. A sort of…resurrection except it is very taxing on the body and the spirit and often leaves the creature in a very unstable state.”

 

Lance frowned thoughtfully, and then blinked as something clicked in his mind, “This Balor guy had an army of zombies?”

 

“Zom…what?” Kellan tilted his head in confusion.

 

“Zombies! The walking dead who do nothing but seek the flesh of the living!”

 

“…humans have very strange beasts.”

 

Lance laughed, “They aren’t real. It’s just something made up for movies and TV shows.”

 

Kellan still looked confused but he shrugged and kept walking, “Something tells me this is another one of those things I need to see to understand.”

 

“Probably,” Lance chuckled. “I’ll dig out some old zombie flicks when we get to Earth. Maybe we can have a big scary movie marathon!”

 

“I look forward to it.”

 

“You don’t even have TV on Patria, how do you all entertain yourselves?”

 

“We have festivals.”

 

“Ohhh, what kind?”

 

“There are the seasonal ones. And there is the Spirit Festival and the Haven Celebration.”

 

“I have got too see how you guys party.”

 

Kellan chuckled, “Maybe it will be close to a festival whenever we mange to find Patria. I bet you would enjoy the dancing.”

 

Lance laughed, “You bet, I could make the entire population of Haven swoon with these moves.” To prove his point, Lance spun on his heel and shimmed his shoulders to a silent rhythm.

 

Kellan bust into a loud bout of laughter, “I’m sure you will.”

 

Lance smirked and clasped both hand behind his head. He opened his mouth to continue the conversation until a long, low growl interrupted.

 

Both the Paladin and the Healer froze at the sound and Lance’s hand moved to hover over bayard, “Please tell me that was your stomach.”

 

Kellan shook his head, “Something is down here with us.” He looked around, ears swiveling before gesturing for Lance to follow. He dropped into a crouch and moved closer to the wall of the cave. Lance followed, mirroring Kellan’s actions and eyes darting around.

 

“You think whatever made that growl caused the cave to collapse?”

 

Kellan frowned, “I don’t know, maybe. Just stay close.”

 

Lance nodded.

 

They kept moving, keeping low to the ground and close to the wall. Lance eyes darted around every few seconds then rested back on Kellan. He knew the wolf’s senses were much more sensitive then his own so he was more likely to hear danger coming long before Lance did but Lance also knew that Kell’s sore arm would hinder his fighting and Lance wanted to be ready to jump into action when Kellan showed any sign of getting ready to fight.

 

For a time, it was quite. No growling from deep within the cave or vicious roars or heavy foot falls pounding their way and Lance briefly entertained the idea that the mystery cave beast had moved on in the opposite direction.

 

His hope was dashed when Kellan peeked around a corner and immediately jerked back with a whispered, “ _Sard._ ”

 

“Is that some kind of swear on Patria?”

 

Kellan paused, frowned, and then nodded, “Yes it is and should not repeat it but never mind that, we are in trouble.”

 

“Define trouble.”

 

Kell jerked his head, indicating Lance to take a look. When Lance peeked he felt the blood drain from his face, “You gotta be kidding.”

 

The tunnel led into a larger chamber and beyond that Lance could see a dull light that he figured to be an exit. But in the chamber were several huge, grotesque creatures that looked like a mash up of rats and some kind of bug, maybe a beetle? They were big, pink skinned except for the dark plates along their backs, long and skinny tails, large claws on their forelegs and sharp teeth poking out from the lower and upper jaws. Lance cringe, “Well, this isn’t good.”

 

Kellan nodded, “And I don’t much care for the idea of finding an alternate route by wondering around in a cave possibly infested with…whatever those are. Sooner we get out and back to the castle the better.”

 

“So what’s the plan?”

 

Kellan’s brow furrowed a bit in thought, “There has to be at least fifteen of them in there and I’m down an arm and you don’t have your armor and we have no idea what weaknesses these beasts might have.”

 

Lance nodded and leaned out a bit so he could get a better look at the weird cave monsters, “Hey Kell…I don’t think they have eyes. Maybe we can just sneak around them?”

 

“That’s not a bad plan,” Kellan hummed.

 

Lance smirked, “Of course it isn’t. And if one gets to close I can shoot my bayard off in some other direction to distract them.”

 

Kell grinned brightly and ruffled Lance’s hair, “Nice thinking Sharpshooter.”

 

Lance knew he was preening like a peacock but he didn’t care. He knew Kellan’s complements were genuine and the fact he, a creature who had been an Alpha on his home planet, was listening and accepting Lance’s plan was reason enough to be a bit prideful in Lance’s option, “Let’s blow this dingy cave.”

 

“Right beside you.”

 

They made their way into the cavern, taking slow, light steps. Up close, the monster rat-bugs were even more hideous looking and they seemed to secrete a strong, foul smell that Lance wrinkled his nose at and he saw Kellan gulping, as if he was swallowing down a gag.

 

They managed pretty well for a time, weaving quietly between the blind beasts and Lance entertained the idea that they would get out without a hitch. But the universe was a cruel and unforgiving mistress.

 

They both saw the giant alien animal shuffling around, they both moved to stay out of its path, what they failed to see, however, was the big tail whipping around as the beast turned. They didn’t notice it until the fleshy appendage collided into Kellan, right smack dab onto his right arm.

 

Kellan yelped in pain and collapsed onto the floor, curling in on himself to try and shield his bad arm. Lance crouched next to him, summoning his bayard as the subterranean beasts all turned in the direction of the wolf and the teenager. Lance fired off a shot, hitting one of the beasts that was closer to where Kellan and him had entered the cavern. The rat-bug screeched and started to roll around on the floor, redirecting the rest of the monsters attention onto it. 

 

Lance bent over Kellan and grabbed his uninjured arm, hosting the Patrian up and running for the exit. He could hear Kell gasping and whimpering in pain next to him and he could hear the rat-bugs screeching in what he hoped was confusion. He ducked under the few beasts that were still between them and the exit, he paused when some started to look in their direction fired another shot before running again.

 

 _‘Come on, come on, come on,’_ in a final burst of speed, Lance and Kellan stepped into open air. The sudden change in light made Lance cringe and squint his eyes but he didn’t dare stop until they were well away from the mouth of the cave and in the thick of the forest.

 

When he did stop, Lance and Kellan stood still for a few moments, both gasping for air as the spike in adrenaline wore off.

 

Lance got his second wind first, “Hey, you alright?”

 

Kellan made a low keening sound and leaned to the side, “Need to sit.”

 

“Oh, yeah, yeah, sure thing,” Lance lowered the healer and propped him against a big tree stump. “How’s you arm?”

 

“Hurts,” Kell stated simply. He bent over and brought his legs closer to his torso, so that his forehead was resting on his knees. Lance could hear his deep breathing, each exhale hissing out between clenched teeth. “By the Spirits that _hurt._ ”

 

Lance grimaced sympathetically and sat next to Kell, “I’ll bet. Pretty sure I heard it thwack.”

 

“Don’t remind me,” Kellan huffed. He tilted his head to look at Lance. “Did those things follow us? I spaced out for a minute.”

 

“Naw, I mixed them up so bad I bet they hardly noticed us. We can stay here as long as you need.”

 

Kellan hummed, “They definitely felt that.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Kit and Nekko. I tried to play it down when I first strained my shoulder so they wouldn’t worry.”

 

Lance frowned, then closed his eyes and focused on his bond, “….okay, yeah, their freaking out.”

 

Kell chuckled, “We can just sit here until one or both of them show up. Maybe even in a shuttle.”

 

Lance laughed, “They are going to highjack the whole castle to come get us!”

 

Kellan burst into laughter, “I wouldn’t put it past those two.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, sorry it took awhile to put this up. Been a busy bee lately.
> 
> BUT ENOUGH OF THAT I GOT SOME ANNOCMENTS.
> 
> Okay, so I am re-writing the first instalment of this series because lets face it I can do so much with it and I didn't. So I am going to re-write the whole thing and upload all of it at once!
> 
> And announcement number two: This I want some outside option on.  
> Okay, so, I get soooo many ideas for stories within the Paladin Pack universe but I don't know how to fit them into the main storyline without it feeling weird. SO I thought that maybe I should do a little sub-series of the Paladin Pack AU where I just throw up the random little stories I think up randomly.  
> Thoughts? Yays, nays? Let me know please :)
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope y'all have an awesome day :3


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